NEWS BLOG

Tasman Rugby Union is pleased to announce that te Pa Wines has signed to be the Union’s Wine Sponsor for 2020.

Haysley MacDonald, owner and founder of te Pa Wines, was born and bred on the Wairau Bar. His family lineage goes back over 800 years to some of the earliest Maori arrivals to New Zealand.

Haysley is passionate about his region, wine making and rugby. These three passions made the decision to get involved in supporting the TRU and the Tasman Mako teams an easy one.

The Makos 54-21 win over Northland means the defending champs have claimed maximum points from their first two matches. Their potent backline and imposing forwards have proved too powerful for both Counties Manukau and the Taniwha. However the Tasman ranks are about to be thinned with the All Blacks going into camp on Monday in preparation for their forthcoming international fixtures.

Tasman 54 (Sevu Reece 3, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Andrew Makalio, Fetuli Paea, Will Jordan, Jacob Norris tries; Mitch Hunt 5 con, Tim O'Malley 2 con) def Northland 21 (Kara Pryor, Harrison Levien, Luatangi Li tries; Wiseguy Faiane 3 con). HT: 19-7

Our mighty Mako play their first Mitre 10 Cup home game against the Northland Taniwha at Lansdowne Park, Blenheim this Friday 7.05pm, live on Sky Sport NZ. Get your #FinzUp ! #TASvNOR

Heading into their first match of the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup most of the talk centred on the Makos supercharged back division and the capers they were expected to cut. However, it was the Tasman forwards who paved the way for their 41-24 victory over Counties Manukau on Saturday evening.

Tasman 41 (Andrew Makalio 2, Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta, Leicester Faingaanuku, Shannon Frizell tries; Mitchell Hunt 4 cons, 2 pens, Tim O'Malley con) def Counties Manukau 24 (Potu Leavasa, Dalton Papalii, Viliami Taulani tries; Baden Kerr 3 cons, pen). HT: 21-17

At Lansdowne Park on Saturday the Tasman women’s team opened their Farah Palmer Cup campaign with a 62-0 loss to Wellington Pride.

When Quin Strange heard NZR President Bill Osborne include his name in the 35-man All Blacks squad on Sunday, the first thing he wanted to do was talk to his dad. “He was pretty stoked especially being Father’s Day, he was over the moon.”

Your mighty Mako get their Mitre 10 Cup season underway on the road against Counties Manukau Rugby in Pukekohe on Saturday 7.05pm, live on Sky Sport NZ. Get your #FinzUp ! #COUvTAS

The Farah Palmer Cup gets underway for our Tasman Mako women with a match v Wellington Pride at Lansdowne Park, Blenheim on Saturday at 1pm. The match will be live-streamed on the Tasman Mako Facebook page.